Month: August 2021

charlie

the world lost one of the great rock and roll drummers today. he was also one of my favorite drummers as well. in the world of rock drummers, there are at least two categories. there are the showy and bombastic power drummers, epitomized by the likes of john bonham, ginger baker, keith moon and so on. and then there is the type that are known for their innate sense of time – their ability to lay the rhythmic foundation of the song down to such a degree that the other band members always knew where to land. ringo starr and levon helm come to mind, but so do so many others. in fact there are more drummers in the latter category, primarily for two reasons. the first corresponds to the fact that it does not require a lot of skill to be a more traditional small kit drummer. but the more important reason is that the primary job of the drummer is to keep the beat. if you can do that, most bands will find value in your musicianship.

i bring this all up of course because charlie watts, who died today at the age of 80, was one of the icons of the latter camp above. he was the bedrock of the rolling stones’ rhythm section for the last 58 years, keeping time for arguably one of the best rock and roll bands ever. the accolades have come pouring in all day, and most reference his rock solid drumming, but also his elegance and warmth as an individual.

i tried to find some good videos to accompany this post, showing charlie’s drumming prowess, but nearly everything featured the ‘stars’ of the band – keith and mick. charlie could always be seen in the background pounding away at his small four or five piece kit, but never being focused on. and he probably always preferred it that way. he didn’t really like the rock and roll lifestyle, especially being out on the road, but he did love to play.

although charlie was not in the press like his more flamboyant bandmates, there is no question that he commanded the respect of them. all members are on record for giving immense praise to his contribution to their overall sound and live performances. keith richards has been quoted often saying that ‘charlie’s drumming is the bed i lay in’.

there is a great story about a time when they were on tour, and mick called his hotel room late at night after a big party session, and yelled ‘where’s my drummer?’. charlie hung up, got out of bed and shaved, put on a suit and tie, then went down to the party room and punched jagger in the face, saying ‘don’t ever call me your drummer again. you are my f**cking singer’. mick apologized. he knew his place.

rest in peace, charlie.

los lobos, ‘native sons’

different bands and artists took to various ways of creating, thriving and dealing with this pandemic. what we have here is los lobos’ response, at least part of it. what started out as a side project to keep them busy and sharp, turned into a tribute to the bands and songwriters from los angeles that were early influences on their lives, careers, and music.

initially trading tracks over the internet, and then gradually getting back into the studio, they compiled over sixty songs, and then whittled it down to twelve that are presented here (plus one original – the title track). there will be a few artists recognizable to the mainstream crowd (jackson browne, buffalo springfield, beach boys), there are some chicano influences (thee midniters, lalo guerrero, willie bobo and mario paniaga) to give us some spice, and some garage rock like the premiers and the blasters (the latter of which were essential in getting los lobos their first break in the business).

the liner notes are great (again, this is why i buy cds and not downloads when i can), and help flesh out the process of the project. but they also give us their thoughts on each song and artist they chose. a quick example:

‘bluebird/for what it’s worth’ by buffalo springfield

when police clashed with young music club goers on the sunset strip in 1966, stephen stills wrote ‘for what it’s worth’. ‘bluebird’ was the follow up single. here the band flips the order and makes it a medley, with david replicating the searing guitars of both stephen stills (left channel) and neil young (right channel). steve: buffalo was a really big influence on the band. like los lobos, they were ployglots unique to their time. louie: we knew we wanted to do a buffalo springfield song, and ended up with two because we couldn’t decide: david: with ‘bluebird’, i have wanted to do that song since i was 15, and ‘for what it’s worth’ is still relevant today. when i was a teenager, buffalo springfield was one of my favorite bands. i just pitched the idea” ‘let’s see how close we can get to the originals. just for the fun of it’.

it’s pretty damn good.

just a real fun album that would go great with your next backyard barbeque.

road trip chronicles, volume 2: red rocks, co

although i have written about my musically related travels before, somehow exiting the fiasco of the last 16 months gives me a renewed vigor to go out on the road and see some live music at some bucket list venues. so i will give a new title to this volume of work, and hopefully there will be many more to come soon.

volume two was inspired by the subject of my post two weeks ago. mrs. redeyegin and i were sitting on the back porch listening for the first time to the new tedeschi trucks album with the live ‘layla’ recording from lockn’.

as is her wont, she can multitask and surf her phone while she listens to music. at some point in the second set or so she says: ‘you know, they are playing in red rocks in two weeks.’ i likely replied something to the effect of ‘ that would be great first show there’ (having never been there before).

within about a half hour, right about the time the cd was ending, she had all the logistics and pricing worked out. i had to check my schedule at work, but by monday she locked it all in.

for those that don’t know, red rocks amphitheater outside of denver is one of the premier (if not the premier) outdoor music venues in the country. a geological phenomenon, the naturally occurring theater was created over the eons, with two large slabs of sandstone rock posing as the outside walls, looking down over a steep canyon that rolls down to another rock wall behind it. it is located at a transitional zone where the high plains meet the rockies, about 6500 feet above sea level.

many local artists performed there informally after the turn of the last century, but things really took off after it was decided in 1936 to start formally building the infrastructure. it was added to the list of projects for the new deal inspired civilian conservation corp. the major part of the project was to add seating and stairs to the steep canyon. it was finally completed in 1941, just over 80 years ago.

because of its natural beauty and extraordinary acoustics, it is a must stop for not only musicians but fans as well. the fact that i had never made it out there before was not acceptable, and so it was time to go.

logistically, we had all kinds of issues going there and back, none of them being the fault of my fearless planner. let me just say that we have nothing good to say about frontier airlines and stubhub. oh, and did i mention that it was pouring down rain that afternoon up to about 30 minutes before the show? the rain began falling softly again after the first set, but by then i had fallen in love with the place, and tedeschi trucks were playing so great it was all worth it.

it was not until the day of the show, after doing some reading, that i realized they likely were not going to be playing with their full band. due to covid and other considerations, they were traveling without their horn section and most of the backup singers. they had also replaced one of their drummers and had a relatively new keyboardist.

i was a little bummed about that, but halfway through the first set it became clear that the new format allowed derek and susan to focus on some older blues oriented songs and stretch out a little bit. susan may have benefited the most, as she got more guitar playing time, and easily filled up the vocal space and the canyon with her tremendously strong voice.

when they came out for the second set, i noticed another guitarist that was not there before. they did not do any closeups of him, other than his guitar, but i seemed to recognize both his playing and visual styles. after a few songs they introduced nels cline from wilco, and it all made sense. nobody around me knew who he was – most knew wilco but not their lead guitarist. derek is one of the best guitarists on the planet, but so is nels. he has a more avante garde approach than derek, but he played a more traditional approach for the evening. he easily held his own with derek and the rest of the band for the rest of the night. they closed the second set with the allman brothers’ ‘in memory of elizabeth reed’. derek and nels would have made duane and dickie and the boys proud. it was stunning.

a perfect capstone to a wonderful night at the foot of the mountains.

thanks mrs. r.e.g., let’s go back soon.